The Reanimation
by MercyFrost
Summary: Sequel to Zombie Apocalypse. It's never over for them is it? They only find a somewhat calm period only to have it end. This time because of zombies. The nightmare that had plagued them for months is back.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Okay, everybody this is a sequel to my Zombie Apocalypse story, now co-written with slayer1002. I know that the first chapter doesn't really reflect it that well, but I promise, next chapter will be the beginning of some zombie action. Hope you like it! Oh, and please review! Makes me feel good.

Tess' head swung from screen to screen with tunnel vision that wouldn't stray from the task at hand. Her mind was processing things faster than normal, as always seemed to happen when she was able to focus on one thing only. She had always prided herself on her ability to process things but she usually couldn't focus on one thing. Here she could.

And Chloe was part of the scenery, as she proved by stepping through the doorway. Tess turned to give her a smile but was greeted with a wary expression that suppressed the cheery smile. "Hey, you still working?"

Tess watched her carefully, her focus momentarily drawn away from her work. "Can I talk to you about something?"

Their expressions swapped. Now Tess wore a wary expression and Chloe was feigning cheer. "I guess." She shrugged, turning around and giving her full attention to the woman who has never asked to seriously talk to her before.

Chloe took a deep breath, clearly bracing for the worst. "Your brother, Lex, has been dead for years and was recently resurrected, right?"

Tess offered a slightly confused smile. "You know that."

Chloe nodded, proceeding cautiously. "A couple of days ago I met him at a coffee shop and..." She started pacing across the room.

Tess narrowed her eyes in anticipation, waiting for her to continue. When she didn't, Tess asked forcefully, "Chloe, what happened?"

"Tess, he's changed," she tried desperately to explain herself.

Tess, however, just wanted to know what was going on. At the mention of Lex her heart had dropped to her stomach. And when Chloe began to defend him her temper began to rise. "Chloe, what happened?" she asked with even more force this time, so it bordered on vicious anger.

"We've been...going out for a while now. And I...I know you don't trust him but believe me, I wouldn't-"

Chloe stopped, seeing the anger boiling in her eyes. "Chloe, I know you think he's changed, but he's fooled all of us at one point or another," her eyes flashed again, and this time, with a lower voice, she said venomously, "and you're no different." She whirled out of the room, tears springing into her eyes at the thought of everything she had been through at his hands.

Chloe was left standing the middle of the room, thinking, that as sad as it was, that went better than expected. A lot less playing of her guilt than she expected. She seemed almost protective. Tess knew that there was nothing she could do to reverse her experiences, but she seemed intent that the same not happen to her.

She pulled out her phone and texted Lex the update. He, the unexpectedly good boyfriend he is, promised a quick arrival.

She was so immersed in the instant replay that she didn't even notice Lois' arrival. "Guess she didn't take it well?"

Chloe shrugged. "Better than expected."

Lois returned the shrug. "She'll get over it."

"I know. Thanks Lois" Chloe gives her a small smile to reassure her that she actually believes the words she was saying.

Lex opens the doors and strides in. "Hello, Lois."

He then walked over to Chloe and gave her a hug. "Tess doesn't know you're here, does she?" Lois asked for confirmation.

"No, but I should talk to her soon," he admitted.

She looked up at Lex, allowing her worry to convey itself in her eyes. He locked eyes with a confidence that she only wished she could have right now. He kissed her forehead tenderly and whispered words of reassurance.

"Well, unlike you two lovebirds some of us actually have jobs that need actual attendance," with that Lois raised her coffee cup and left for her car.

When she reached the street she saw a silver Porsche racing down the street. Without a second thought, she knew who was in it. Tess.

Tess knew she had a tendency to run when she was upset. She knew she should face up to everything and bulldoze through it like Lois or strategize from the inside like Chloe, but she needed a bird's eye view to get a clear picture of things. Which was partially why she had a tendency to come across as distant and scrutinizing if you didn't know her very well. And very few people knew her well enough to know to come after her.

Which was also why she swung into her driveway of the mansion expecting to be able to wallow in her thoughts for a while. Because even though she was engaged to Oliver, he couldn't know about this yet, so he wouldn't know to come to her. And right now, she just needed to wallow.

And the perfect place to do that was her bedroom. She moved slowly to the room and sat on the bed, feeling the warm, familiar comfort under her. She almost smiled at the feeling but Chloe's words came crashing back and hit her like a hammer. Her words echoing through her mind.

He's changed.

We've been going out.

But it always came back to "he's changed." She seemed to honestly believe that he wasn't the man who put her through both more physical and emotional trauma than any one other person. Zod had been the shining example of physical abuse. And Oliver lead the pack in heartache. But Oliver felt bad about it, and didn't always know he was doing it.

But Lex did. She had never met a man so in control of his actions in her life. He knew exactly what he did to her, but he didn't care.

She grabbed the nearest breakable, a glass frame and threw it to the floor in a fit of fury that she wouldn't allow herself to show to anyone.

"You okay?" Oliver's words cut through her thoughts like the shards that lay on the floor.

So engulfed in her emotions, she couldn't put on her normal facade that seemed to fool everyone. Everyone except him, so it probably would have been pointless anyway. She nodded weakly.

She looked down at her hands to notice a steady trickle of blood streaming down her hand and on the the bed that moments ago had seemed so comforting. Oliver walked slowly over to her, tissue now in hand and began to wipe the blood from her hands.

"Chloe told you didn't she?"

Her eyes darted up to his as her silent fury arose again. "You knew?" Her cold stare returned staring into his eyes with a ferocity that he was surprised by every time. "Who else knew?" She jumped back, away from him as though she had been physically struck.

"Mercy, calm down," he attempted to sooth, but she would have no parts of it.

"Who else knew?" She demanded, as though ready to break his bones one by one.

"Everyone," he admitted.

I turn to run away again, but Oliver grabbed her wrist. She turned back to a him, a little defeated. "She didn't mean to hurt you. Remember, when you showed up again, I told Clark that I had asked you out he looked at me like I had three heads."

"Oliver, you know that's different."

"It's not, and you know it. He deserves a chance, same as you did."

Her anger rose again as she snatched her wrist away. "With everything he did to me... Even you..." She turned and stalked out the door, heading for her car.

She drove aimlessly at dangerous speeds. Finally, she stopped at a field. The field. The field where it all went wrong. This is where Lex was when the meteors had landed. Where everything went wrong for him. If he hadn't been there that day who knows how things would have turned out. This place was the source of every problem involving Lex.

"I thought I was the only one who came here to think," his voice cut through her thoughts especially easily as he was at the center of them anyway.

"I have a tendency to come to the source of my problems," she explained.

"What problem would that be?" Lex sat down next to Tess.

"Bluntly? You."

"I am sorry about everything that's happened to you."

"Everyone always seems to be after the fact."

"Fair enough."

They sat in silence for a while. Tess actually got the feeling he was being sincere. Lex didn't know what else to say without starting a fight. He wanted to reach out to his sister. But after everything that happened the trust would have to come gradually. She would allow it, but for Chloe's sake, she needed to know one thing. "What are you doing?"

"What do you mean?"

"Chloe," she answered simply.

"I care about her, Tess, as hard as that is to believe, she makes me want to be a better person."

"Lex, we've done this before. You said the same thing about Lana. And after that you became worse than ever. What's going to be different?"

"Do you ever just know?" He asked, clearly not knowing how else to explain it.

Tess looked up at him and smiled, holding up her hand to show him the ring on her finger. "I heard you two had a fight. And you still don't doubt it?" He asked, almost like he was admiring their relationship.

Now he wanted advice. As anyone would be, he was a little worried, heading into a new relationship, as sure as he was that he loved her, he was worried about the rocky waters sure to come. She saw that and and was more than happy to lend her two cents. "There was a while where I hoped that he wasn't it. But I always knew. We fell apart during the rough times, but it made us stronger. It's not the same for everyone, or even anyone, you just have to work."

They sat for a few minutes more before she sighed. "I should go talk to Chloe."

Lex agrees and says that he'll comes as well. He gets into his car and heads that way while Tess hesitates a moment, looking out into the open field, getting her last moment of peace before she had to venture back into the real world.

A while later she enters Watchtower and Chloe looks up at her with hopeful and questioning eyes. Lex had arrived a moment before and was smiling slightly at Tess. "You decide?"

Tess meets Lex's eyes and they stare at each other for a moment. "I know a lot has happened but you have a new start, don't mess it up for each other and me because you can't get over a grudge match."

Tess allows a ghost of a smile to cross her face. "We still have miles to go. But I'm willing to try. I support your relationship."

Chloe smiled.

Another A/N: Not the end. So if you liked it, make sure you follow. More drama to come but with more zombies added to the mix! Remember, review ;)


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: sorry it's a shorter chapter. There is a whole story as to why that is but nobody actually cares so I'll just get on with the story. Cuz that's why you're here. So here's the next chapter. Oh, and don't forget to review ;)

It's never over is it? You only come very, very close only to come back down steadily. But that's not what it's like, at least not for Tess and her friends. Especially not for Tess. No, she she would come to what would seem like the height of her life only to have it viciously torn away. She could swear that she could hear the world laughing at her.

The serum was only temporary. It temporarily battled the destroyed virus (what ever I have added is bold and I changed genes to virus because genes meant it came from the parents)in the zombie. She had barely lived through one zombie apocalypse and was going through another and she still could not seem to say zombie without feeling ridiculously stupid.

It had lasted a year. One dreamlike year, when Clark and Lois had finally gotten married and Tess and Oliver had gotten engaged. Then, they were woken up with a sudden realization that seemed to echo through the entire world. It happened with little warning. Small symptoms showed themselves first, nothing like any limbs falling off like you would assume when a decaying corpse is reanimated, but subtle symptoms like drooling or a slight twitch. Their breathing might have become heavier as the shadow of death began it's war on their body.

Luck seemed to be on their side, as miraculously Tess noticed something was off. She had purposefully hired three employees that were former unharmed zombies, so that if there were symptoms and those three shared them when no one else did it would be a sign that it was beginning again. Three was a small enough group that they could be overtaken if necessary.

That morning she and Oliver were sitting through a board meeting that would have last ages. But, on her other side sat one of the men with a zombie history. (You should probably name who it was along with the other three on the next paragraph) He had always had a thing for her and therefore consistently chose the seat nearest to her, which Oliver detested, but put up with, as he was good at his job.

He began to drool. At first she dismissed it as his attraction but then noticed that the man across from her began twitchinguncontrollably, along with his breathing which was getting heavier. The third man drooled and twitched occasionally. The other board member's didn't notice, but Tess did. Tess' eyes went wide, which Oliver noticed immediately. "Mercy?"

"Meeting adjourned," Tess ignored Oliver, getting up in a hurry, wasting no time. She stood by the door and waited for everyone to leave. Her heart moved up to her throat and began to beat faster. "Everyone go home except Mr. Roberts, Mr. Simmons, and Mr. Smith," she ordered calmly trying to hide the fear in her voice, but with an urgency that no one questioned it.

Tess looked at Oliver with worry. He recognized that something was very wrong but was missing whatever it was that suddenly set her off. With their lives it could be anything. Mr. Roberts, whom Oliver had a particular dislike for spoke up, "What's the matter?"

Tess spoke confidently, "I suggest you three isolate yourselves and anyone else that shows the symptoms of twitching, heavy breathing, and drooling. You can't hurt each other, but you can hurt everyone else."

They looked around at each other as they slowly began to recognize the history of the group. They had all once been zombies.

Mr. Simmons moved slowly towards the window on the opposite side of the two men and asked, "Is here okay?"

"The glass is bulletproof. It should work," Oliver answered knowingly.

Tess laid a loaded gun on the table. "To defend yourselves against each other."


	3. Chapter 3

Tess glanced at Oliver, who saw the heartbreak and worry in her eyes. Now they would probably never be married. And they would spend the rest of their lives in constant waiting for the next apocalypse.

He returned her gaze with a look of confidence that said, no matter what happens, he would be there. They would go through this together, not just this but everything. The elevator doors slid open and they walked into Watchtower, greeted by Chloe on a caffeine high. "Good, we're gonna need someone with energy."

"Call Clark and Lois," Tess ordered urgently.

"Why?" Chloe knew that kind of seriousness in her voice and she had only heard during the first apocalypse.

"It's starting again," she answered simply. Chloe felt herself pale. So many nightmares about those cold and fear filled nights. So many nights, she told herself that it was okay, that it wouldn't happen again, that she had saved the world, that her friends were safe, and that she was safe. Now her lies came crashing down around her, tearing apart her bubble of safety that she had encased herself in.

"Chloe, some people at the Daily Planet are acting really strange and..." Oliver trailed off after seeing Chloe's stricken expression.

"Did you leave Lois there?" Oliver questioned turning to Clark, clearly panicked. (I didn't know Clark was in the room so we might want to put that he was there.)

"Yeah?"

"Bring her here. Go get her, now!" Tess ordered. Clark quickly complied, slightly worried. What could have the stoic Tess Mercer on edge? What could make Chloe look like that? Why was Oliver scared for Lois? Question after question assaulted his brain and every one of them had the same answer. It was back. It wasn't over. But Chloe and Tess had come up with the cure, it wasn't possible!

Recently, both Clark and Lois had been promoted by Perry, resulting in a corner office of their own. He zipped through the window, grabbed Lois and went back to Watchtower without breaking stride. "What are you doing, Smallville? I was working!"

She turns to complain to her audience whom she had thought would be laughing, smirking, or smiling depending on who they were. When she saw Chloe's blatantly displayed horror and Tess' worried expression coupled with how tight Oliver was holding on to Tess, as though she would vanish from his arms the second he let her go. Panic started to course through her."What's going on?"

Then it hit her like a ton of bricks. "No," she refused to except the only thing that could break the strongest people she knew. Oliver nodded, confirming her worst nightmare. Her anger flared. She was supposed to be done with this! She had already gone through at least 10 times what she should have to! She couldn't do it again, not again. She screamed."But you fixed it! What went wrong?! How could you mess this up like this?!"

Her words hit home to Tess and Chloe. It was their fault. They were supposed to be able to save the world, not put it through another horrifying nightmare . They had one job and they couldn't even do had failed. Both women looked to each other and saw mirroring expressions of remorse.

Quickly, thought, both realized that it was worse than anyone thought. The last time, it had been isolated to one continent. Now, there was no way every one of the former undead had stayed in one place. Tess and Chloe immediately went into action. "I'm contacting the United Nations anonymously so they can isolate the continent."

"Most would have gone back to their former homes. Being the people today oceans and traffic don't stop people from reaching their destinations. With luck, the people will be able to overpower the few zombies scattered across the world."

"We should go out and help people," Clark said, determined to end it.

"Agreed." Oliver moved to grab his Green Arrow gear.

"You don't think your going alone do you?" Chloe interrupted.

Clark looked back, thinking the notion ridiculous but found Tess loading up a gun and Lois going to grab one herself. "Sorry, Smallville, but that's not gonna happen."

"Guys," Oliver turned to look at the three women, "you'll get killed out there."

All three of their eyes flashed. Tess' eyes harden, while Lois and Chloe's dared him to say that again. Clark quickly moved to make amends. "We just don't want any of you getting hurt."

Then, to end all debate, a scream sounded through the streets. "No time for arguing. We have to go." Tess tossed a gun to both Chloe and Lois, all running out to protect the streets. Chloe leads the pack out, besides Clark, who had already sped away to more concentrated areas.

She pushes through the door, not considering what could be on the other side. Her hastiness brought her face to face with an already decaying face. It gnashed at her, skin already peeling away from it's face. She kicked it away and shot it in the face, blood splattering towards her face.

"Don't open your mouth!" Chloe turned around to look at Tess confused, but made sure to follow her instructions. A zombie came running, full speed at her. Tess whacked it across the face, knocking it to the ground. She shot it in the head, instinctively turning her head to the side, so the blood stained only the side of her face.

Chloe watched silently, as blood trickled down, tortuously. "If you swallow it, it will enter your blood stream and turn you into one of them." Tess tossed her a rag. "Keep it, you'll need it."

Tess ran right, so Chloe took the hint and ran left. One of the zombies ran at her. She grabbed it's unnaturally smooth arm. In places the skin had been ripped off, so it felt like a patchwork of skin and muscle with little blood. "Chlo! Turn it around!"

Chloe spun, taking the zombie with her. Lois shot it in the head. This time, Chloe had learned from the first time, and turned her head, closing her eyes out of instinct. "This may be more difficult than we remembered," Chloe joked.

Suddenly, something tackled her from behind. She couldn't turn around. She began to scream and panic. Her heartbeat accelerated. She tried to turn but it was too heavy. She elbowed it aimlessly, just preventing the inevitable.

Lois ran towards them. But she wouldn't make it. It was too late. Chloe couldn't help but be a little disappointed. Taken out on the first day.

BAM!

The zombie stopped struggling and went limp. The person behind her rolled the zombie off and it fell to the floor head decapitated. Chloe rolled over, not sure what to expect. "Lex!" She leapt up and hugged him.

Lois finally made it over. "Hate to break up the party, but we have bigger things to worry about."

The two broke apart. She was right. This had only just begun.


	4. Chapter 4

Tess ran down the hallway shooting zombie's left and right. She avoided the blood that splatted everywhere gracefully. She laced the bullet on her gun with kryptonite incase Clark's blood had effected them in any unexpected ways. She met Oliver at the end of the hallway and he asked, "Are you ok?"

"I'm not a kid, Oliver." She pushes him sideways and shoots a charging zombie, whose head had fallen a off the second the bullet hit. It had made the mistake of trying to sneak up on them.

"Oliver, check the perimeter and I'll tell the rest to meet us up on the roof." She kissed him quickly and pulled her phone out. Knowing the dangers of not paying attention she locked herself in the janitor's closet and reached for her phone. "Go to the roof," she texted. Opening the door she grabbed her gun and ran to the roof. She felt a hand on her shoulder and on instinct she turned around and shot.

She caught the kryptonian body that had fallen on the floor, immediately recognizing that something was wrong. She opened the door to the roof and dragged the body out into the sunlight. Realizing that the others had not yet gotten there she looked down at the body she had shot: Conner Kent also known as the clone of her brother Lex. His red hair damp and sweaty, skin pale white ice cold. She knew she had to help him some way, somehow. She lifted his shirt to find the bullet that was shot, the bullet that she shot. Tess knew she had to act quick digging in her pockets for a solution. Then she felt it, her phone. Dialing Clark's number she said into the phone, "I need your help bring the other's with you."

In about ten seconds every member on the team was there looking at Conner and suggesting ways that could help. Tess had her gun loaded and was watching the door. "Tess, what happened?" Lex asked concerned with the clone that he had made.

She hesitated to speak but did anyway. "I mistakenly shot him. I laced my gun with kryptonite in case of possible side effects of your blood."

"Is he going to be alright?" Clark asked ready to speed away to get everything that we needed to help Conner. Clark had to keep a fair amount of distance so he couldn't fall to the ground.

"We need to get this bullet out of him." Chloe suggested with earned her glares from everyone, but Lex because she had stated the obvious.

Tess still couldn't stand their romance but she had told Lex she was alright with it, so she just focused herself on the task at hand. "Anyone bring any medical supplies with them." Oliver appeared by her side and took her hand.

"I did." Lois piped up. Handing Lex the kit, he burst it open and choices of tweezers, band aids, cotton, medicine, and a bunch of other tools. Lex grabbed the tweezers and fished in Conner's skin for the bullet. Lex pulled and there it was, the kryptonian laced bullet. Oliver saw the worried expression leave her face and he squeezed her fingers. "Everything will be fine." Tess nodded, not tearing her eyes away from the boy that lay in front of her.

"So what do we do with him, throw him off the side of the building." Lois joked. Tess gave her a glare that clearly said she was not funny and he would be joining them in the fight against zombies.

"Now that that question was answered, Clark what did you find out?" Lex questioned the kryptonian. Clark relaxed and walked over towards them, looking as serious as he could get. With that look they all read him clearly. "I had a lot of extra time and I checked the other countries. Looks like they have all ready been infected. We were the last continent to not get infected, but around the city I see people already turning back into their zombie nature."

"Turning back, so you mean every person who had already been infected turns into a zombie again, that's perfect! Now we have to face off with a zombie army two times larger!" Lois exploded burning with enough energy to just kill every single zombie alive.

By the time Conner had started to stir, they grabbed all of the available weapons from watch tower. Being two of the richest people in the world Oliver and Tess were able to afford state of the art guns, bows and arrows, cross bows, swords, any weapon you could name, they had access to it. Clark and Lois had double teamed and kept a look out while everyone else was either gathering weapons or tending to Conner. Meeting at their old hideout wasn't very hard, but with everything going on they had to be extremely careful. Tess had insisted to bring Conner who was still unconscious.

"Tess, how do we get him in?" Oliver asked his future wife who was already trying to remember where the traps she planted were.

"Slide him down."

Clark took that as his cue to slowly and gently push Conner down the pipe. No sounds were heard so that was an all clear for everyone. They slid in cautiously carrying the weapons that they had bought.

"I think we should take shifts for getting supplies." Lex suggested with everyone agreeing.

"Since there are seven of us I think two should go and one group will get three," Chloe finished Lex's thought.

Conner began to wake and instantly Tess and Lex were at his side checking on him. "Look at that the Luthor's are finally getting along just like a family!" Lois cheered all three Luthor's stared at Lois who kept laughing.

Conner had been filled in with how they would work and how everything was done. "So just a suggestion, who wants to see the Luthor's team up and go get us some supplies." Everyone raised their hand at Lois's suggestion and Tess gave her the look that she was going to get revenge soon. It was almost enough to make Lois regret saying it. Almost.

Oliver threw them some bags and wished them a good luck, not liking the idea of Tess going out of his sight, but he acknowledged that she didn't appreciate him watching her like a baby so he allowed her to go. Loading their non kryptonite weapons, they headed off to find a hopefully non zombie infested store.

"Hey, Tess can I ask you a question?" Conner said. Tess fully turned her attention to him as he spoke.

"I don't trust them. I don't know why, but I only trust you and Lex," Tess knew this would be a problem but chose to ignore it for the time being.

Lex looked back at the both of them, "You coming?"

With a approving nod they snuck in the store through the roof. Conner and Lex would take out the zombies and Tess would grab anything she could find. "Hey! Let's go." Tess shouted to her relatives. They dashed out of the building killing every zombie they could get their hands on.

Arriving back at the hideout was too easy, but Conner stalled. "Tess, Lex. I need to talk to you."

The siblings headed towards him and they both had mirroring expressions, one mixed with confusion and support. "Like I said, I don't trust the rest of them, they just don't treat me the same. Come with me. We could go on our own, survive like a family."

This was a tempting offer for Lex and Tess but they both had the same thing in mind they wouldn't leave their friends. They needed to stick together not only because they knew each other but to survive. Besides, they had Oliver and Chloe to think about. Lex barely survived the last apocalypse. And Tess needed Oliver's support.

"Conner right now this is a game of survival and you have to do whatever it takes to live so we have to stick together whether we trust each other," Lex responded speaking for the both of them.

Conner just nodded understanding but also keeping a positive attitude for their sake. "Let's go."

They entered their home for the remaining days and something was very wrong.

"Lex! Tess! They're missing!" Conner was shocked at the scene in front of him. Only stained blood and a note that read: Find us.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: okay, so due to the fact that I forgot to post the last chapter (That slayer1002 wrote by the way) I'm posting two chapters! Sorry for the long wait, totally my bad. Horrible updater, I know. I'm just way to absent minded to be doing this stuff. But since I'm here I might as well give you the new chapter so here you go!

Panic. Panic was the first and inky thing that the usually stoic siblings felt in that moment. It was a completely foreign emotion to Lex. Tess had felt it when she was a child, but Lex only knew anticipation. So when the realization of Chloe's absence hit him it was a full force wave of pure panic.

"She's gone," he muttered. Tess allowed herself a few tears, making herself look extraordinarily weak, letting out all of her emotions while everyone else was consumed in theirs. She slowly composed herself and looked to her brother. On his face, she saw something that she never thought she'd see again. The broken remnants of the old Lex.

The one that let her in, and let her see the emotions that would flood him. Tess offered him an apologetic and squeezed his hand. She then turned her attention to Conner, whose face, upon first glance would appear steeled and cold. "A Luthor through and through," she thought bitterly. But she raised him. She knew him better than anyone, even better than he would like to admit. He was conflicted. She had feeling that there was now emotions surging through him that he didn't expect.

Lex quietly excused himself to go take a shower, really to have time to himself to mull things over. Conner had moved to sit on the couch. Tess turned and leaned up against the table behind her. "You didn't expect to feel anything did you?"

"Why do I? I don't trust them."

A ghost do a smile crossed her face and she went to next to him without meeting his eye. "Sometimes you care about people you don't think deserve it. And no matter how much you try to convince yourself that you don't care you do. Accepting it is just easier."

"Why?"

"Give it time."

His temper rose. He yelled, "We don't have time! Are you forgetting about what's going on?! How are you so calm?! Don't you care?!"

Tess' eyes flashed and her face steeled itself in reaction. Her anger was something that had the ability to make anyone jump back in fear because it wasn't outright anger. It was cold, hard logic voiced with a clipped, bitter attitude. It was enough to humble anyone. He had never seen her break. Her strength was something she just expected at this point. So the year that trickled down her cheek symbolized so much more than it should have. It was the blatant disregard for the height he had built her up to.

The steel cracked and emotion flooded into her eyes. "Of course I care," her voice reflected the cold stature, but her eyes told a different story.

He found his anger had dissipated and left sorrow. The tear had dried and now her eyes were averted to the floor. "I'm sorry."

She nodded. "You didn't mean it."

"How do you it?"

She looked up at him in question.

Then he realized why. It was for him. For him and for Lex. She realized they needed was a rock. So she tried to be it. "Thank you."

Tess didn't know why he was thanking her, but instead of asking she just gave a small smile, knowing words would both fail you and cause her to break. Lex came out and Tess turned to Conner, "Why don't you go freshen up?"

He smiled at her, it wasn't a happy smile, but it showed that his anger had dissipated. Lex no longer seemed to be in shock. "How are you holding up?" He asked.

"I'm fine, Lex. I didn't need you to check on me when I was in the hospital so I don't need you when I'm out of it," she spat.

Lex looked more surprised than hurt. He expected Tess' usual superior smirk, but the angry outbursts were something new. "I'm sorry," she admitted. She promised she'd try for Chloe. So putting up with her brother was something she would have to do. Especially since they needed him to help get everyone back.

"It's okay. I know you're tense. You don't have to be strong for me."

She opened her mouth to argue, her normal attitude back in place, but seeing the sincerity on his face she reminded herself to try. "I'm not. I'm being strong for me. And for..." No, she couldn't say his name. Not yet. Especially if he's... "For them."

Lex understood the need for pronouns. He couldn't say names yet either. Too soon. She walked over to the computers and began typing rapidly. He looked over her shoulder, but he didn't understand anything on there. "What are you doing?"

"Tracing the handwriting."

"What do you have?"

Tess made a face at the computer, clearly surprised. "Nothing."

She cursed under her breath. She turned around, Lex could see the gears in her head turning. "Hand me the note."

Lex did so without question. She turned it over, running her fingers over the smooth paper. She looked down at the paper and saw a sticker with a series of numbers on it. She stared at them long and hard before she realized something. All of this was on purpose. Whoever this was wanted to be found. "It's a bar code," she whispered.

"What?"

Tess turned and began typing again. "What are you doing?"

"What is that?" Lex repeated questions over and over. He hadn't yet learned that no matter how many questions you ask Tess, if she thinks she's found something important, it won't matter.

A triumphant smile spreads across her face. "I have the area. Get Conner. We should move. I think whoever did this also had a part in the beginning of this apocalypse."

A/N: hey look another note! I'm chatty today but I am really excited about this chapter. Little heart to heart between Tess and Conner. As much of a heart to heart they can have, I mean they are Luthors.

Anyway, slayer1002 and I would love to hear who you guys think started all this. I'll be honest we haven't really given many clues but we both still wanna hear your suspicions. right below this. In the review box. Please?


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Guys, I am super sorry about the long wait. We were having some plot issues and we've finally got it worked out (we think). I am doing my very best to finish the next chapter ASAP. Cuz I feel HORRIBLE about the long wait. Anyway, here's the long awaited (and sadly short, but that's another long apology speech) chapter.

Tess frowned as she shuffled through through the books. She and Lex along with Conner had stumbled upon the Kent farm and had been looking for clues for the past two hours. Tess searched the barn, Lex the house, Conner the perimeter. Her hands shuffled through box after box looking for clues but found nothing. She knew her friends would not just disappear and leave behind a note, so she knew someone or something just as powerful as Clark kidnapped them. Which is bad news for all of them.

Scanning the room, Tess found a clue, Clark always kept his barn neat as possible so the pile of books and papers scattered on the floor indicated that someone had been there. As she approached she was familiar with the box that was open. It was not just a regular box, it was the box that contained the mirror box. The mirror box was missing.

Tess had been shocked at the fact that someone had escaped and chose to attack her fellow survivors. Felling hands wrap around her she knew instantly it was not friendly. She whipped around, hitting it in the head. Retrieving her gun she shot it straight in the head pushed it down. Scurrying out the door she found the other Luthors and a hoard of zombies.

Figures. Things had been too quiet for too long. Conner was zapping zombies with his heat vision left and right. She stayed a distance away, shooting as many as possible, starting with the ones closest to Lex, hoping to give him the opportunity to aim and fire and their heads, which he did. Silently, they locked eyes and formed a plan of attack in a way that only siblings could do. She'd take care of the ones behind him as he shot forward.

Conner could handle himself as he was invincible. So Tess just focused on what she had silently agreed to. She fired. Bang. Bang. Bang.

After what seemed like an eternity, they were all down and every one of them was breathing heavy. Lex and Conner ran over to Tess who had sat down on the porch. "I didn't find anything," Conner said.

Tess looked over to Lex. At some point she had become the leader. In a family of the most bullheaded people she'd ever met, they'd somehow come to the agreement that they'd all look to her for plans and strategies, and something she was never good at giving, reassurance.

"Nothing," Lex confirmed. Which meant their only clue was the one she found. She had been silently hoping that the boys would find something that would contradict what she had found, but they hadn't. So no matter who it was that came through, they were darker, and that didn't mean anything good.

She walked back in and Lex and Conner followed behind silently. Tess bent down and picked up the box that held the mirror box. Inside it was a paper rolled up and tied with a red ribbon.

She unwrapped it gingerly. The paper unrolled and the message, "maybe you can play. Where did it start?" written in her handwriting stared up at her.

"Watchtower?" Conner suggested.

"The orphanage," Lex offered, "Or the mansion?"

"Maybe Louisiana?" Conner put in. But all of them meant nothing, because she knew where it all started. And it wasn't anywhere that emotionally detached.

A/N: Please review even though I'm a horrible person/author for not updating. So, any ideas where it all began?


	7. Chapter 7

Tess was torn more than anything else. Would running do anything? It didn't really matter. Instinctively she shouted, "Run!" and took off full speed. The cloud was now coming from all sides. No, it didn't matter. They were dead no matter what. No, worse than dead. Undead. The cloud engulfed them, filling their vision with hazy red. Strangely, it didn't hurt. She didn't feel any physical transformation.

The cloud evaporated just as quickly as it came. It disappeared, leaving them completely unaffected. Then, when the panic subsided, realization set in. The cloud contained a poison that served as a stimuli waking the dormant disease. But it didn't last forever like the original infection. In short the cloud reinfected the past-zombies. "What happened?" Conner asked.

Tess and Lex surveyed the area. Nothing in sight. "The cloud reinfected them," lex answered.

"Let's move on," Tess urged quietly moving towards the apartment.

Lex finally got fed up with intrigue, asking, "Where are we going? Where did everything start?"

Tess turned and looked him in the eye. He was unsure, and a slight remainder of fear resided in his eyes. "I used to blame everything on Oliver. The night he cheated on me, he broke me to the point that I thought I could never be fixed. I went to you to at least put walls around the broken pieces. I know I was wrong, but that's what she means. She's making me face my inner demons."

Lex didn't say anything. He knew how much it took for her to tell him that and saying anything would be like stepping into a minefield, asking for disaster. She turned and Lex and Conner followed, neither willing to push her.

They walked a few blocks, Tess leading. She pushed through two glass doors and up three flights of stairs. At the top there's a hallway with a single door. "Kinda cool, in an eerie way," Conner notes.

"If you like overhanging death," Tess mutters, turning the handle and walking into the devil's den.

"You know," Tess Luthor came around a corner, looking straight at the trio, clearly expecting their arrival, "I was almost worried that you wouldn't figure it out. After all," she smiled without humor, "your world is so much more naive."

The real Tess stepped in front of the two boys, taking a defensive stance. "I'm full of surprises," she spats.

Tess Luthor walks closer, examining her counterpart's eyes. "I knew there had to be something about you. Otherwise you wouldn't have been able to do it," she spoke cryptically, probably on purpose, but the Tess Mercer had used the same tactics when dealing with enemies. It put them on edge without actually doing anything.

"Why did you leave them?" She didn't have to explain, the other her knew exactly what she was saying.

"I guess maybe I gave you too much credit," she walked to the window, observing the mass destruction that covered the city.

Tess didn't have an answer for that so Luthor continued, turning to face the woman who looked just like her, probably thought like her, but would never, could never understand her pain. "I wanted to see if the Luthors in this world could stand up to par with the ones from my world." She looked straight at Tess.

"Clearly we came farther than you thought," Mercer shot back.

Luthor smirked. "I hoped you would make it. It's you I hate. It's you who took everything I had left from me," Luthor spat with hate. "I wanted to kill you myself."

A/N: hi, everybody. I seem to have lost two very important things to this story, my cowriter, and my muse. So if there was ever a time to review it would be now.


	8. Chapter 8

Both Tess' eyes flashed, but Mercer's was unidentifiable. Was it fear? Was it hate? Or was it the understanding that death was once again at her door. And self sacrifice was being asked of her yet again and she wasn't stepping away from the challenge. "What did I do to you?" She needed to know. If she was going to die she needed to know. What did she do?

"You convinced him that he could do better. He threw me out on the streets. He left me with nothing all because you couldn't stay out of his life." She was angry. She had every right to be. She would kill her.

She didn't do it. But she couldn't condemn Clark. He had a future, while she spent her future running from the past. "I didn't mean-"

"It doesn't matter what you meant," she spat, now angry, "it's what you did. And now you'll pay for it." She pulled out a gun. Now she spoke to Lex and Conner. "Both of you, get in the room. Now. If you come out, your dear sister gets it." She points the gun in the direction of one of the rooms quickly before aiming back at her counterpart. Lex and Conner obeyed, not willing to risk their sister's life.

"Who are you?" Tess asks, disgusted. This wasn't her. This was never her. She couldn't have become this.

"I'm everything you're too scared to be." This is what she might have considered strength a few years ago. She wouldn't have taken it this far but maybe she could've become this.

"No," Mercer answered, confidence restored, "You're not. You're exactly what I was strong enough to walk away from. You don't have to be like this. You can help people. You can be loved."

"I can't. I'm not able to be loved. I can't," her facade was faltering. She just needed to be shown the way, just like Clark.

"That's what I used to think," Tess let her walls come down. Honesty was what the other Tess needed. "I used to think I was beyond anyone's reach. That I was too far gone. Clark and Oliver trusted me. It was what I needed to start, but..." she paused, unsure how to continue. "It wasn't love. Oliver showed me that I could be fixed. He built me up. He showed me that I deserved to be loved. You don't need to hide in darkness anymore. I know how you feel. You feel like you've been in the darkness for so long that you can't step into the light. Because it makes you feel ashamed." It was exactly what she had needed to hear all those years ago. It was exactly what she told Conner. She had to believe her.

"Lionel raised me to believe that love is weakness. What you're asking me is to change everything I believe in."

"No," Mercer took control. She rested her hand on the gun that was still pointed at her. This had to work. "I'm asking you to allow yourself what you've always wanted."

Luthor lowered the gun cautiously, but her double's eyes never left hers. "Go back. Do what you always wanted to. Take control. Live the life you always wanted." Mercer reached over to the table beside her, picking up the mirror box, and handing it to Luthor.

"You trust me enough not to mess this up?"

"If no one ever took a leap of faith for me I would be exactly what you were," Tess replied. It was true. She hadn't wanted to admit it, but she couldn't do it alone. She needed Clark and Oliver to trust her. The other Tess nodded and turned the box. "Thank you."

She was engulfed in a bright light and Tess shielded her eyes. When she was gone she ran to the other room where Lex and Conner were sent. They had already untied the group but there was Kryptonite in the room. She noticed an extra light switch on the wall outside and flicked it. It was funny how much you remembered about a place you tried to forget.

She stood in the doorway. Lex and Chloe were hugging in the corner. Lois and Clark doing the same off to the side. Oliver's eyes met Tess'. She felt an overwhelming feeling of relief spread throughout her body. He was okay.

He stood up and ran over to her. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her as close as possible. She was okay. He never wanted to let her go. She clutched his shirt in her hands and buried her face in the crook of his neck. She would never let him go. He would never leave her sight again. The thought of losing him was something she pushed aside the entire time, convincing herself that he would be fine even though the worry of not being able to make it had been gnawing at her. Tears began to trickle down her face. She squeezed him tighter. He could never leave.

"You're okay. You're okay," he kept repeating to himself, more for his sake than hers. He seemed to still be in shock. He buried his face in her hair. She was okay. They were okay.

A/N: Yay! Final chapter! Got it done! I'm just gonna thank LanaaLuthor who really did get me through this with all her support and reviews. Thanks for reading the story. And if you liked it just check out my other stuff ;)


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